Introduction to Communication

Question 1

Why are we here?

Answer 1

To bring honor & Glory to God. This is the right answer. We have been called by our creator to be here. It is our blessed opportunity to honor him. We make an impact on God’s kingdom. He won’t call us to do something that won’t impact His kingdom.

Question 2

Why do we communicate?

Answer 2

Because we have to. It is not an option. We were created as communicators. To make sense/produce meaning. Communication does not merely distribute existing meaning…it foundationally produces.

Question 3

Part 2: Why do we communicate?

Answer 3

No communication = No meaning, no self, no sense, NO identity. Every word I speak is constructing who I am.

Question 4

Answer to both questions. Why do we communicate & why are we here?

Answer 4

To glorify God.

Question 5

Why can one not communicate?

Answer 5

1. It is inescapable
2. Must be intentional
3. Is always constructing

Question 6

How do we communicate?

Answer 6

Verbally & non-verbally. EX: Words, attitudes, clothes, cars, food, posture, expressions, music, career, & friends.

Question 7

What would it look like to NOT communicate?

Answer 7

1. Silence
2. Self-imposed Exile. They may do this b/c of protest (to avoid persecution/prosecution), shame/repentance (To isolate oneself as an act of shame or repentance), or devoting time to a pursuit (to isolate oneself to devote time to a particular pursuit).
3. Staying in bed

Question 8

What is communication?

Answer 8

The process of CREATING & SHARING meaning through the use of symbols. OR the process
of generating meaning by sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal symbols and signs that are influenced by
multiple contexts.

Question 9

What does it mean to create and share in communication?

Answer 9

We are creating meaning in the process of communication. There are than endless opportunities to worship God through the meanings we create.

Question 10

What is conduit? Recall that communication is not conduit. If it were it would not provide us with a lot of opportunities to truly worship God.

Answer 10

Someone or something that provides a way of passing something such as info. or payments from one person to another.

Question 11

How do we understand communication?

Answer 11

By transmission or transaction.

Question 12

What is Transmission/action model (Wrong View)?

Answer 12

The basic model that communication is mere “conduit” of information. Communication that TRANSPORTS information. Represented in Action & interaction communication Models. A linear, one-way process in which a sender intentionally transmits a message to a receiver.

Question 13

What is Transaction (ritual)?

Answer 13

A model of communication that endeavors(try hard to do or achieve something) to recognize the “communion” of communication. It is TRANSFORMATION. Something new is created through communication. Communicators generate social realities in a way that helps us to understand, create, & change them.

Question 14

What are 2 Critical Key Points?

Answer 14

1. Communication has to do with the community of people not merely the transportation of info.
2. We NEGOTIATE meaning through our communication.

Question 15

Communication as routine or ritual?

Answer 15

It must be ritual (transactional).

Question 16

What is Phatic Communication?

Answer 16

An extreme example of how communication creates meaning through ritual.
Person 1: How are you?
Person 2: I am fine.
We have a sense of what we communicate through SCRIPTS that we culturally adopt. This significantly reduces the uncertainty we have and provide us c/individual & social meaning.
This exchange is clearly not primarily driven by info. exchange.

Question 17

What is accomplished through communication?

Answer 17

Learn. Tech. Relate. Belong. Identify. Understand. Develop. Become.

Question 18

Communication Context from smallest (first) to big (last). In the book public communication is #4 and Mass communication is #5.

Answer 18

1. Intrapersonal Communication. Communication with the self.
2. Interpersonal Communication. Communication with someone else.
3. Small group Communication. Communication in the context of public speaking.
4. Mass communication. Communication through a mediated source that allows for MASS media.

Question 19

What are participants in communication?

Answer 19

The senders/receivers of messages in a communication encounter.

Question 20

What is the message in communication?

Answer 20

The verbal & no verbal content being conveyed from sender to receiver.

Question 21

What are the internal cognitive process that allows participants to send, receive, & understand messages?

Answer 21

Encoding & Decoding.

Question 22

What is Encoding?

Answer 22

The process of turning thoughts into communication.

Question 23

What is Decoding?

Answer 23

The process of turning communication into thoughts

Question 24

Encoded messages are sent through what?

Answer 24

Channels.

Question 25

What are channels?

Answer 25

A sensory route (sight, smell, touch, taste, sound- Most communication occurs through sight[visual] & sound[auditory]) on which a message travels, to the receiver for Decoding.

Question 26

What does transmission/action model focus on?

Answer 26

The sender and message within a communication encounter. The receiver is viewed as a target or end point. We are left to presume that the receiver either successfully receives & understands the message OR not. Responsibility is put on the sender to help ensure the message is successfully conveyed. The model emphasizes clarity and effectiveness.

Question 27

What are the barriers to effectiveness?

Answer 27

Overall Noise (Anything that interferes with a message being sent b/w participants in a communication encounter).
1. Environmental Noise (any physical noise that interferes c/the transmission of the message. Ex: other people talking in a diner)
2. Semantic Noise (Noise that occurs in the encoding & Decoding process when participants don’t understand a symbol. Ex: French speakers Decoding Swedish. Also can interfere b/w people speaking the same language b/c many words have multiple/unfamiliar meanings.

Question 28

What is the interaction model?

Answer 28

Communication as a process in which participants alternate positions as sender & receiver & generate meaning by sending messages & receiving feedback c/in psychological & physical contexts. This model has 2 sender-receivers who exchange messages. Each participant alternates roles in order to keep a communication encounter going.

Question 29

What is feedback?

Answer 29

Messages sent in response to other messages.

Question 30

What does interaction model focus on?

Answer 30

Less message focused & more interaction focused. More concerned c/the communication process itself. There are many messages being sent at once that many may not be received. This model is not judged to be effective/ineffective on whether a single message was received or NOT.

Question 31

What model takes physical & psychological contexts into account?

Answer 31

The Interaction Model

Question 32

What is physical context?

Answer 32

Environmental factors in a communication encounter. EX: size, layout, temp., & lighting of a space.

Question 33

What is psychological context?

Answer 33

Mental & emotional factors in a communication encounter. EX: stress, anxiety, & emotions. Positive psychological states, like love, can also affect communication.

Question 34

What is the Transaction Model of Communication focus on?

Answer 34

We communicate to create relationships, form intercultural alliances, shape our self concepts, & engage c/others in dialogue to create communities. View communication as integrated into our social realities in a way that helps us understand, create, & change them. We don’t communicate about our realities; communication helps to CONSTRUCT our realities.

Question 35

What are the participants labeled in Transaction?

Answer 35

As a communicator. The transaction model suggests that we are simultaneously senders & receivers. We are able to adapt our communication.

Question 36

What contexts influence a interactions?

Answer 36

1. Social
2. Relational
   3.Cultural

Question 37

What is social context?

Answer 37

Stated rules or unstated norms(social conventions that we pick up on through observations, practice, & trial & error) that guide communication. As we are socialized into various communities, we learn rules & implicitly pick up norms for communicating. Norms & rules vary among people & culture

Question 37

What is relational context?

Answer 37

Previous interpersonal history & type of relationship we have with a person. We communicate differently c/a person we just met VS someone we have known. Initial interactions c/people tend to be SCRIPTED & governed by established norms & rules. But when we have an established relation than we may break or bend social norms & rules.

Question 38

What is cultural context?

Answer 38

Includes various aspects of identities such as, gender, race, nationalities, ethnicity, sexual orientation, class & ability. It is important to be aware, we all have multiple cultural identities that influence our communication. Intercultural communication creates uncertainty, it can deter people from communicating across cultures or lead people to view intercultural communication as negative.Important to keep an open mind & avoid making assumptions about other cultural identities.